Author Topic: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington  (Read 13558 times)

Peg Monkey

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Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« on: October 02, 2018, 02:09:01 PM »
My family was rehomed from Heaton St, Hockley to a tower block on the estate in 1959 (I was aged 10). When first offered the flat on the 6th floor it didn't have instant appeal but after our terraced house with no bathroom and an outside toilet my mother thought it was a palace.
Before moving we had never heard of Erdington and imagined it to be lawless bandit country on the edge of civilised Brum so there was no way of us knowing our new home was directly under the flight path to Elmdon Airport, more about that later......! :-[
Peg.
This link will take you to a map of the area c1914 where the Lyndhurst would be located, long before it was a sparkle in the planner's eyes: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=52.5327&lon=-1.8323&layers=168&b=6 The estate would be the area to the east and below Chester Rd Station, within the area defined by the Chester Rd, the Sutton Rd and the railway line.
It's far better to look back on a rejection rather than a lost opportunity.

Edmund Fifield

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2018, 02:43:54 PM »
Peg ,you were lucky we moved to Glebe Farm in1949.Has Elmdon got bigger the more planes came straight over our roof.We could not watch the Telly as the picture vanished of the screen and sometimes heard the pilots talking to the control tower.Great fun.
Make every day a day to remember
Because this ain't no rehearsal
And you ain't coming back

Peg Monkey

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2018, 03:47:24 PM »
Peg ,you were lucky we moved to Glebe Farm in1949.Has Elmdon got bigger the more planes came straight over our roof.We could not watch the Telly as the picture vanished of the screen and sometimes heard the pilots talking to the control tower.Great fun.
Looks like you've taken the lead - but I would claim some ground back on the basis our "house" was 11 stories high!
Peg.
It's far better to look back on a rejection rather than a lost opportunity.

Peg Monkey

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2018, 04:21:24 PM »
Each tower block had/has a roof-top public laundry drying area (many washing lines) and my mother press-ganged me into service on wash days to help her peg out, it was pretty lively up there on windy days - if you didn't double-up on your pegs you were likely to get a lot less laundry back than you'd pegged out. The roof had a high obscure safety glass perimeter (to hide the washing) but occasionally there was a clear panel from where you could get spectacular views, day and night - including the flashing beacon of Elmdon Airport! :D
Peg.
It's far better to look back on a rejection rather than a lost opportunity.

Peg Monkey

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2018, 04:32:32 PM »
I do wonder why the tower block roofs weren't provided with a red flashing beacon!
Peg.
It's far better to look back on a rejection rather than a lost opportunity.

Edmund Fifield

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2018, 04:50:12 PM »
You should have lived at my M in Laws at Calder Tower P/Barr they were on the 13th floor.Good view of Barr Beacon and the sunsets and Villa Park,you could hear the roar when they scored
Make every day a day to remember
Because this ain't no rehearsal
And you ain't coming back

Peg Monkey

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2018, 04:58:02 PM »
Work started on the estate's construction in 1957 when a number of Victorian villas on the Sutton Rd. were demolished, by the time I had moved to the estate in 1959 it was about 75% complete, Lyndhurst Primary School opened its doors to pupils in 1960, my mother made an application for a place for me (I was 10) but this was refused on the basis I only had a short time of junior school remaining before I was due to go to senior school - that was a fateful decision for me - that led to me continuing to be schooled in Hockley - a two bus commute daily - that's another story.
The school has now been demolished. :(
Peg.
It's far better to look back on a rejection rather than a lost opportunity.

Peg Monkey

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2018, 05:01:47 PM »
You should have lived at my M in Laws at Calder Tower P/Barr they were on the 13th floor.Good view of Barr Beacon and the sunsets and Villa Park,you could hear the roar when they scored
Crikey! Could you watch the match with binoculars?! - Even  more of a roar on derby days when Blues scored, right?
Peg.
It's far better to look back on a rejection rather than a lost opportunity.

Edmund Fifield

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2018, 07:46:55 PM »
Booooooooo up the Villa
Make every day a day to remember
Because this ain't no rehearsal
And you ain't coming back

Peg Monkey

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #9 on: October 02, 2018, 09:42:04 PM »
I do wonder why the tower block roofs weren't provided with a red flashing beacon!
Peg.
The irony is I've never flown from Elmdon/Birmingham Airport!
Peg.
It's far better to look back on a rejection rather than a lost opportunity.

Peg Monkey

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Re: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington
« Reply #10 on: October 02, 2018, 10:00:58 PM »
Ok, so you've built half a dozen sky scrapers all 11 stories high on an estate that is on the flight path to an airport a few miles distant, what do you do next? Do you build a 16 story block on a hill on the same estate? Answer: Yes they did!  - Harlech Tower! :-\  In its day the tallest block in Birmingham.
Peg.
It's far better to look back on a rejection rather than a lost opportunity.


 

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